Samuel strong



(No Model.)

S. STRONG.

sTEEET LETTEE BOX.

No. 253,236. Patented Feb. 7,1882.

N. PEHZRS PholoLlIhugmpIm-r, Washmginn. 11c.

STATES PAT NT Grr'rcs.

SAMUEL STRONG, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

STREET LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,236, dated February 7, 1882.

Application filed April 1, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL STRONG, a citizen ot'theUnited States, an d residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented ImprovementsinStreetLetter-BoXes,of which the following is a specification.

My improvements particularly consist, first, in providing the box with a tilting bottom and front plate provided with checks, so that when lowered it will form an open box, from which the mail-matter may readily be removed by hand,-and combining with this tilting box a stop-ledge to limit its movement and prevent the escape of mail-matter at back; second, in the combination, with a letter-opening, of a rigid external hood, an internal chute, and a curved back plate, formed and arranged as hereinafter described, to provide an effectual safeguard against the abstraction of mail-matter, while avoiding danger of the lodgment of long letters or packages in the upper part of the box.

In the accompanying drawings, forming ,a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents an end view of said box,and Fig. 2a longitudinal section of the same.

Arepresents, in the drawings, the letter-box, made generally of cast-iron, in the form of plate-pieces, the top, sides, ends, and elbowpiece being cast separately, with suitable edgecreases or flanges for riveting them together.

Brepresents the said tilting elbow-piece, the end and bottom being cast in one piece, as shown, and provided with Etrunnions or pivots a, turning in suitable bearings made within the bottom edges of the two sides of the box A. This elbow-piece forms the bottom and lower portion of the front end of the letter-box, and by the tilting downward of its end piece, I), the necessary opening is made for removal of mailmatter, and the bottom piece, a, is made toincline or tilt, thereby projecting or sliding the mail-matter toward the opening end, and increasing the facility of its removal. The said oscillation and inclination are suitably limited by the inclined ledge d, (fastened inside the lower part of the rear end of the box,) against the under side of which ledge thesinner end of the tilting bottom 0 engages, said ledge also serving to prevent letters within the box from falling or getting entangled behind the rising end of the said tilting bottom. As an additional preventive for the same entanglement, the support of the said ledge is made in a curve closely corresponding with the are described by said rising end of bottom. The said bottom is also guttered or creased in its upper surface, and provided with suitable outlet -holes, as shown, to pass off any moisture which may have condensed within the box. The upper part of said end I) is also provided with a suitable staple, e, by which, together with the hinged hasp f and suitable padlock, g,the wholeclbow-piece B is properly fastened when the said removalopening is closed. The said elbow-piece B is also provided with two quadrantal cheeks, h, one on each corner of said elbow, which, together with said end piece, I), serve to prevent the mail-matter from spilling out when said piece is tilted.

To deposit mail-matter in the box A there are two openings or entrances-one a horizontal slot, i, near the top of the front end of the letter-box, and havingits edges beveled upward to give entering packages an upward direction, the other a longitudinal slot, it, through the curved top or root'of the same. The entrance tis protected from weather exposures by the rigid hood m, castin onewith the front end piece of the box, instead of the hinged lid nowin use, so as to form a projecting cover or cowl over said opening,but not so close as to prevent the easy access of letters and papers. The other entrance,k, is also made weather-proof by similar means. Immediately below or at the base of each of said entrances t' and 70 there is suitably and rigidly attached within the letter-box a toothed slide, 8 and s, inclined downward sufficiently to allow the easy introduction of mail-matter, and yet projecting far enough beyond the area of said entrances to prevent the extraction of anything once within the box. There is also provided a curved orarchingplate, a, firmly and suitably fixed within the top and rear end of the letter-box, and so placed opposite the entrance '5, as shown, as to makea constantly divergent surface to the said edges of said entrance, and thereby direct downward the end of any long package, after being in- 2. The combination, in a streetletter-box,of troduced, asaforesaid, and so prevent its lodgthe letter-opening i, the rigid external hood, 'm, ing between the slide 8 and the upper and rear the internal chute, s, and the curved plate u in [5 end of the box. the upper part of the box, opposite the letter- 5 Having thus described myinvention, I claim opening 0', extending downward to or below the as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, level of said letter-opening. the following: I

1. In the drop letter box A, the elbow-piece SAMUEL STRONG. B, herein described, provided with the trun- 1o nions a, the cheeks h, and the staple e, in com- 'Witnesses:

bination with the ledge d, as and for the pur- R. H. STEELE,

poses specified. A. W. KIRK. 

